Masculinities, Media and the Creation of the Gendered Cities and Identities: A Study of Desi Hip-Hop and Stand-up Comedy about Gurgaon

“Gurgaanwe wala chhora” (the boy from Gurgaon) is infamous as a violent, aggressive, young man unable to give up his hyper-masculine ways in spite of the rapidly urbanizing and sophisticating space around him.

Gurgaon, a city in the National Capital Region of India, has one of the highest crime rates in the country, particularly violence against women. One finds concerns regarding safety (or the lack of it) in Gurgaon everywhere – in news, on social media, in pop-culture references, in serious conversations, in jokes or passing remarks.

This paper examines two forms of media content about Gurgaon – online stand-up comedy videos and Hindi/Haryanvi rap or Desi Hip-Hop (DHH) music videos. In both case, one finds frequent references to violence and aggression, with mentions of guns, alcohol and sexual innuendos. But the tone, descriptions and the targeted audience for the two are polar opposites. The comedy videos, catering to the white-collared professional, working in the IT companies and Multi-national corporations located in “new” Gurgaon, mock the rural, uncivilized male of the “old” city. The DHH songs, on the other hand, are popular among the local, semi-urban Haryanvi population of the region and the machismo of the visuals and lyrics is a source of regional and masculine pride and a projection of strength.

Through the examination of these videos and the audience reactions to them, the paper tries to show how media images and discourses about cities is shaped by people’s perceptions of them; but also go onto further colour and reinforce these perceptions. In this case, adding to the general image of Gurgaon and its people as hyper-masculine. Interestingly, this becomes a way for people to create and express identities, forming groups as well as “othering” people in terms of gender and sexuality, class and communities.